cliff now and they're calling it the fiscal cliff because they don't want to e embrace either the tax increases or spending cuts and i think it's foolish to think this congress can come up with a better deal. >> you know what's interesting, to eric's point, there is a great irony in this that the democrats are saying we've got to raise taxes and the fiscal cliff does both. just not in the way anybody wants it, so if they can't do that, how are they going to find a way they can all agree on? >> the superfailed committee. this is a giant hatchet as opposed to a scalpel. >> it was designed to fail. >> i agree, but the real solution and real irony is going to be the ultimate deal's going to look like the obama boehner grand bargain that was negotiated and almost done in the summer of 2011. the fact that we couldn't make that deal then i think's a tragedy for the country. one of the thing's it did was lead to that aaa downgrading. that was unnecessary. >> let me just follow up on this point of what republicans should accept. you said you'd go back to the clinton era tax rates if you could